Hong Kong -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In 1842 , when Hong Kong became a British crown colony after the first Opium War , it was described by a very unimpressed UK Foreign Secretary , Lord Palmerston , as a barren rock with nary a house on it .

He also added , prophetically and spectacularly incorrectly , `` it will never be a mart for trade . ''

Of course , by 1997 , when Hong Kong was handed back by the British to become a Special Administrative Region -LRB- S.A.R -RRB- of China , it was a modern metropolis of well over six million souls , used to a free economy , a free press and the rule of law .

According to the agreement hammered out between Britain and China , the territory would remain that way for at least 50 years .

Under Chinese rule , Hong Kong would govern itself , choose its own leaders , control its own economy and maintain its own legal system . But there were many skeptics . Would China really be able to keep its hands off ?

Fifteen years later , almost a third of the way through those 50 years , are those promises still being kept ? How has the territory changed ?

Christine Loh has a unique perspective . She was a legislator during the last years of the British colony and again in the early years of the Hong Kong S.A.R. . A feisty democrat politician , no one would ever accuse her of being in the `` pro-Beijing '' camp .

If you look at the people of Hong Kong , she said , their daily lives really have n't changed very much .

Indeed , Hong Kong has its own borders and immigration control , even with China . It has its own currency , its own police force and system of law courts . It has freedom of expression and demonstration to a degree unheard of anywhere on the mainland . It 's the only place in China , for example , that can commemorate the June 4 , 1989 crackdown against the students in Tiananmen Square .

The territory also has its own legislature and chief executive . Beijing has always promised to be hands-off , allowing the Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong , but many still feel it has undue influence in local politics and in an electoral system that favors pro-Beijing candidates .

China 's huge presence is inescapable .

`` Our unease in Hong Kong is that the mainland is so big and we are so small . We are a small city of seven million people . It is easy for us to be physically overwhelmed . I think that is our fear , '' Loh said .

Since the handover , trade ties between Hong Kong and China have strengthened so much so that Hong Kong is now the mainland 's biggest source of foreign investment , state news service Xinhua reported , quoting China 's ministry of commerce .

Hong Kong is also the top destination for investment from the mainland . Trade between the two surged nearly 600 % to US$ 284 billion from 1996 , the year before the handover , and last year , Xinhua said . And ties are only set to strengthen .

In the days leading to the 15 year anniversary , China announced a package of policies to further bind the mainland and the island covering trade , finance , education science and technology and tourism .

But the prospect of tighter ties with their homeland is not necessarily being welcomed by Hong Kongers , many of whom feel that while Chinese money has boosted business , it has also put pressure on public services .

Earlier this year , full page advertisements appeared in the local media , bluntly calling mainlanders `` locusts '' and accusing them of driving up property prices and squeezing Hong Kongers out of their own hospitals and schools .

`` We have a love-hate relationship with China , '' said Hong Kong entrepreneur Douglas Young , whose popular chain of stores selling furnishings and knick-knacks celebrates a unique Hong Kong style .

He is adamant that Hong Kong should hold onto its differences .

`` I disagree that you have to choose between being a Hong Kong person or a Chinese person . I am both . Like a New Yorker , a New Yorker is both a New Yorker and an American , and I am a Hong Konger as well as being a Chinese person , '' Young said .

`` So I think there is nothing wrong with Hong Kong being a part of mainland China or being a Chinese city . All I am saying is that Hong Kong should maintain its differences in its regional identity . ''

CNN asked people on the streets of Hong Kong what the difference was between Hong Kongers and the Chinese .

`` Many of us were educated in Western countries and went abroad for a university education so naturally our cultural background is different from those Chinese nationals who were born and raised in China , '' one man said .

`` I do n't know much about China , '' one woman said in Cantonese . `` The problems in China right now make me think that I should not consider myself Chinese , '' she added .

However , one woman who described herself as a Chinese person who was born in Hong Kong said , `` Hong Kong people and Chinese people are basically the same . The only difference between the two is that they are born in different places . ''

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Hong Kong marks 15 years since the handover from British to Chinese rule

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The island became a British colony after the first Opium War in 1842

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Britain and China agreed that Hong Kong should remain independent for 50 years

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Hong Kong has its own borders , laws , currency and freedom of expression